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Beyoncé Recorded 80 Songs for Surprise Album
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Collaborations, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul, iTunes, New Releases,
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Beyonce recorded "about 80 songs" for her surprise album.
The 32-year-old singer released her self-titled record earlier this month following a year of hard work, and she admits she had a hard job of whittling the tracks down to a selected amount.
Speaking in her Part 3 Run 'N Gun video chat on YouTube, she said, "When I started picking the songs that I gravitated towards, because I recorded about 80 songs, it was the songs that were more effortless to me that stuck around." The album features a collaboration with her husband Jay Z - whom she shares two-year-old daughter Blue Ivy with - on the song "Drunk in Love," and she believes the track worked well because they just had fun: "I kind of free-styled the verse, and Jay went in and he started flowing out his verse. We just kinda had a party. It was so great, because it wasn't about any ego, we weren't trying to make a hit record. we were just having fun. and I think you can hear that in the record."
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Dannii Minogue Writing “Personal” New Album
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Upcoming Releases, Pop,
Dannii Minogue is set to open up on a "very personal" new album.
The 42-year-old star has begun work on her latest record, and it is said she could be ready to sing about her break-up with Kris Smith and her rumored fling with Simon Cowell.
"The record will be very personal. Dannii wants to cover the events from the last couple of years. She's kept quiet about a lot of things and is using her music as an opportunity to finally speak about it all. She's actually finding it really therapeutic," an insider said.
The "Put The Needle On It" singer has been turning to her sister Kylie for support as she writes the new album - which is her first in ten years, which made her apprehensive: "I've been dabbling for a while, I've got a few tracks there. The older you get the more hesitant you get. There's more at stake and seeing how I'm going to build in time for that and keep some balance. There's always a few messages from fans saying 'Come on, it's been 10 years since the last album.' I've had little chunks of time to dedicate and sit down and write stuff. It's all about the right songs."
RJ Mitte Plans Music Career
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases,
Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte wants to start a music career.
The 21-year-old actor - who played the character of lead actor Bryan Cranston's son, Walter Jr., in the recently concluded hit TV series - has aspirations to record some of his own songs and has been brushing up on his instrumental skills.
"I'm working on it right now, I'm learning guitar, I'm learning piano. I have a little bit of an issue, I have one good hand, the other hand is a little stiff and rigid, but I'm getting control over it. I love music, at one point I had close to half a million songs on a hard drive. My house is constantly being filled with music, every music, vinyl, everything. It's really brilliant."
Although RJ suffers from cerebral palsy (CP) - a condition which normally occurs before or during birth for a number of reasons, usually due to a lack of oxygen to the brain - through "tons of yoga" and exercise, he has the condition under control, and had to accentuate its characteristics for the series. "It took a little bit of convincing [to get the part], as at first Vince [Gilligan, show creator] thought I was actually too able-bodied. I can't tell you the last time I've gone to a doctor for my CP. I have it under control for the most part," he previously said.
Idris Elba to DJ in London
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, Performances, Upcoming Releases, Hip-Hop & Rap, R&B / Soul,
Idris Elba will make a special DJ appearance at London's Sway nightclub on Friday.
The actor-and-DJ will provide the soundtrack to a night of partying at the Covent Garden hotspot, marking his first DJ set since the whirlwind success of his latest acting role as Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, for which he recently earned a Golden Globe nomination
The 41-year-old star will DJ under his musical moniker 7 Wallace and will also be joined by US female rapper Eve - whose hit singles include "Tambourine" and "Rich Girl" with Gwen Stefani - and former EastEnders actor Chucky Venn, who plays Ray Dixon in the BBC One soap.
Idris recently revealed that his next album will be dedicated to former South African leader Nelson Mandela, who died at the age of 95 earlier this month: "The album will be called Mi Mandela. I went back to South Africa and worked with some great musicians. I'm really proud of the album. I'll wait until the film has died down so it doesn't get muddled but I'll release it in the New Year. Basically, it's a love letter from me to Mandela about me playing him."
Beyonce’s Album Smashes iTunes Record
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Industry News, Music Videos, The Charts, Pop, R&B / Soul, iTunes, New Releases,
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Beyonce's surprise fifth album has become the fastest-selling record in iTunes history.
The self-titled record, which was released without any warning last week, shifting 828,773 copies in just three days. The majority of those sales came from America, where it has racked up 617,213 sales since Friday.
Beyonce's own first-week sales record was also broken, after her 2006 second record B'day sold 541,000 copies in seven days.
The "Love On Top" hitmaker stealth-released the record exclusively on iTunes, shocking fans by unveiling 14 new songs and 17 videos without any promotion.
The 31-year-old said she was inspired by Michael Jackson's Thriller video premiere in 1983, which is why she made such a "visual" record: "I miss that immersive experience. Now people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their iPods and they don't really invest in the whole experience. It's all about the single, and the hype. I felt like, I don't want anybody to get the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it's ready and from me to my fans."
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New Muse Album Will Be Stripped Back
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Upcoming Releases, Rock,
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Muse will "strip back" the tracks on their next album.
Frontman Matt Bellamy said he wants to "reconnect" with the oldest elements of the band and that he is keen to experiment less on the new songs: "I've got a pretty good picture of what I'd like the next album to be like. It's the comedown and the sort of waking up the next day being like, 'What the f**k? What the f**k?' That was crazy.' I kind of feel like it will be nice to reconnect and remind ourselves of just the basics of who we are."
Speaking about the sound of the album, the 35-year-old musician continued, "I have this strong feeling that the next album should be something that really does strip away the additional things that we've experimented with on the last two albums, which is electronics, symphonics and orchestral work and all that kind of stuff."
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Muse and Matt, along with band mates Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, say they've come a long way. "In some ways, the band has gone on this pretty insane journey since we formed as teenagers. Back then, we weren't very outgoing on stage. We were very sort of off to ourselves, hiding behind the music," Matt added.
Arcade Fire’s Jamaican Castle Studio
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases, Alternative, Pop, Rock,
Arcade Fire rented a castle to write and record music for their latest album.
The "Ready to Start" band spent time at Trident Castle - which was built in 1979 and is to be turned into a hotel - in Jamaica before releasing Reflektor and were inspired by the county's vibrant music scene.
"In Jamaica at night you hear the sound systems coming from every corner of the island. It's impossible not to absorb that. The way people relate to music there is really deep. It was great to be a band together and have a shared experience. It was like summer camp but with intense work," said the band's frontman Win Butler.
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Katy Perry Doesn’t Blame Exes in ‘Prism’ Songs
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Pop, New Releases,
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Katy Perry won't hit out at her former lovers in her music.
The "Roar" hitmaker's third album, Prism, deals with her emotional state after her split from ex-husband Russell Brand in 2012, but she insists she tries not to make her former flames look like the bad guy in her tracks.
"Well, I never try to make people out to be villains, too much. There's a lot of empathy in my writing, even if there is pain and sadness. I think I'm not always trying to point the finger. I think on this record, the whole Prism record, it's very self-reflective and you hear that I've kind of gone inside more and looked at where I can make myself better, did a patchwork thing, rather than like 'Screw you. You're crazy. F**k you.'"
Katy - who is now dating John Mayer - still remembers the love she shared with former partners and wouldn't want to discredit it, but prefers to reflect on her own part in the failure of her relationships. "It's really easy when relationships end to be like 'That guy was a f***ing douchebag.' But really if you laid it down, and you saw the whole span of the relationship, you saw that you were in love. You saw the intimate moments, you saw the pain, you saw all the emotions and you have to kind of say 'Well, what responsibility can I take for myself in all of this?'" the 29 year-old said.
Quote of the Day: Taylor Swift on Songwriting, Exes
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Gossip, Rumors, Country, Pop, New Releases,
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"I only write songs about crazy love. If I go on two dates with a guy and we don't click, I'm not writing a song about that. It didn't matter in the emotional grand scheme of things. There's a lot that goes on in daily life that isn't really worth turning into a verse and a chorus... I heard from the guy that most of Red is about. He was like, 'I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through a photo album.' That was nice."
- Taylor Swift reveals that she doesn't write a song about every guy she hooks up with, which is what apparently most folks believed. (Shocker!)
(Make sure to check out our other notable quotes.)
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Bruno Mars Inspires Ellie Goulding
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Performances, Pop, R&B / Soul,
For inspiration, Ellie Goulding looks to her pal Bruno Mars.
The "Starry Eyed" hitmaker has toured the US supporting the singer and says his live show has made her "up her game" and improve her own stage set to be more suitable for a bigger audience: "Bruno's show is phenomenal. It's the most incredible live show I've seen - that and Bjork, and it made me want to up my game. I read an article the other day that said I'd become Americanized, that I'd come from this shy English rose girl playing a guitar to being this big pop star... But you do adapt a bit to those bigger crowds and playing arenas. You can't just go out there and just say, 'Hiii.' You really do have to go out there and command."
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